MOORHEAD, Minn. -- MSU Moorhead softball collected a pair of pivotal NSIC wins on Thursday afternoon as the Dragons swept Minot State on a cold and windy afternoon on Nemzek Softball Field. MSUM moved their winning streak to seven games thanks to the wins today.
The Dragons took game one 3-1 before
Mack Gallagher secured a 5-4 win in game two on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh.
Game One
Pitching would rule the early innings of game one as
Azalya Lopez did not allow a hit through three innings, mowing through the Beaver order. The sophomore would only give up a walk through the first three innings. However, Minot State starter Reegan Floyd was on her game as well, stifling the Dragons and holding them hitless in the same stretch. Lopez would give up a leadoff walk in the top of the fourth with the Beavers eventually pushing that baserunner across on a sacrifice fly. Despite the run, Lopez still held the Beavers without a hit in the inning.
Lopez would break the hitting drought for both teams in the home half of the fourth as she would grab the game's first hit on a single.
Grace Oeltjen would pinch run for Lopez and immediately move to second base on a stolen bag. Oeltjen would move to third base on a sacrifice bunt in same at-bat. With one out,
Annika Norman would attempt to lay down the squeeze bunt with Oeltjen inching closer to home. Minot State would catch Oeltjen off the base early in the at-bat, leading to a rundown between third and home. The Dragons would catch a break as Oeltjen was deemed safe (after a long huddle between the umpires) at home on Beaver interference at the plate. Through four innings, the teams were tied at one run each.
In the top of the fifth, Lopez would surrender her first hit on a leadoff double, before rallying back to grab three straight outs, stranding a runner on third base. MSUM would take advantage of that timely pitching as
Evey Evans would leadoff the home half with a triple to right center. In the ensuing at-bat,
Sam Centeno would drive Evans home on a screaming single. The RBI would put MSUM up 2-1, but the Dragons were not done there.
Hannah Losee would pinch run for Centeno at first base, eventually moving to third base with two outs. Losee would score thanks to an RBI single from
Lizzy Davis to put MSUM up 3-1.
In the final two frames, Lopez would only give up two hits, but would hold Minot State off to earn her 14th win of the year. Lopez finished the contest with six strikeouts, only allowing three Beaver hits.
Game Two
Evans would start in the circle for the Dragons in game two and would find herself in a jam quickly. Minot State would grab a pair of base runners thanks to a Dragon error and a single with no one out. Those Beaver runners would eventually move to second and third base after a wild pitch with no one out still. The senior would then refocus and earn a pair of quick ground outs to post two outs. Evans would close the frame thanks to a needed strikeout to keep the Beavers off the board.
MSUM would respond in the home half as they would find base runners after
Chloe Makinney doubled to leadoff the inning. Lopez would smack a triple with one out to drive Makinney home and put MSUM up 1-0. In the ensuing at-bat,
Mack Gallagher would drive in Lopez on a single to right field. Through one inning, MSUM led 2-0. The Dragons would opt for the arm of
Teagan Clemmons in the second inning as she would only need five pitches to retire the Beaver side in the second. Clemmons would give up a two-out single in the third inning, but would hold the Beavers scoreless despite the hit. In the same span, Minot State starter Gabi Dawyduk would set the Dragons down in order in the second and third innings.
It was in the top of the fourth inning where Minot State would see their offense open up a bit. The Beavers would plate a pair of runs in the inning to tie the game at two with Clemmons getting out of the inning after surrendering three hits. MSUM would strand a pair of runners on base in the home half following two Beaver errors, but would not push anything across. The top of the fifth inning saw Minot State score two more runs to take the lead, 4-2. The Dragons would not be able to bring any runs across in the next half inning.
MSUM would cut the lead in half in the bottom of the sixth inning as Gallagher began the frame with a single. The sophomore would move into scoring position on a wild pitch. From there,
Eliya Johnson would bring Gallagher home on an infield single. Heading into the final inning of play, Minot State still led 4-3. Clemmons would rally to keep the Beavers off the board in the seventh, surrendering just one hit, but earning a fly out to end the frame.
Needing one run to tie and another to win the contest,
Ella Holiman provided the Dragons a base runner to begin the inning. Holiman reached on a Minot State error and would make it to second base on the play. In the next at-bat,
Eliyah McCarthy would look to lay down a bunt to move Holiman into scoring position. McCarthy's first attempt went foul as she would eventually fall into a two-strike count. The senior would then send a frozen rope to right center, which scored Holiman and tied the game.
With no one out, McCarthy would move to second base on a single from Makinney. Both runners would advance on a sacrifice bunt in the next at-bat as the Dragons had two runners in scoring position with one out. Minot State would intentionally walk Lopez in the ensuing at-bat to load the bases and have a force out at any bag. The strategy proved futile, however, as Gallagher would step up and hit a deep fly ball to right field. For Gallagher, it was deep enough to score a tagging McCarthy at third base. The walk-off sacrifice helped the Dragons collect their 13th NSIC win of the season. Clemmons earned her seventh win of the year in the process.
Up Next
MSUM (26-16, 13-7 NSIC) continues their homestand on Saturday, April 20 in a doubleheader with Minnesota Duluth, which is scheduled to begin at noon.
